WIN A COPY OF ALREADY DEAD

The UK paperback of the latest Cooper & Fry novel ALREADY DEAD is published this week. And here's a chance for five lucky readers in the UK to win a free copy for themselves: 

http://www.thecrimevault.com/exclusives/win-already-dead/

All you need to do is fill in your name and email address to enter. But make sure you enter by 29th May!

ALREADY DEAD is the 13th novel in the series and follows on from the dramatic ending of DEAD AND BURIED.

A summer of endless rain in the Peak District leaves the officers of Derbyshire's CID with a problem. They have discovered a man's body lying in shallow water, but torrential rain has swollen the rivers and flooded the roads, making travel difficult and forensic examination impossible.

And that's not all. The absence of DS Ben Cooper, on extended leave after an arson attack, has left a serious gap. DS Diane Fry is a reluctant temporary replacement, but now their makeshift team is about to be tested to the limit. The fatal events of one damp August night are likely to remain shrouded in mystery if they can't track down a car glimpsed only as a dark outline in the rain by a passer-by.

As the rain turns into a deluge, loyalties among the officers will be put under intolerable strain as they try to solve their toughest case yet. And that's before it emerges that Ben Cooper is not at home, but has vanished into thin air...

"Packed with atmosphere, suspense and danger, bestseller Stephen Booth's exceptional new Cooper and Fry thriller is a masterclass in British crime writing."

You can find out a bit about the writing of ALREADY DEAD over at 'Crime Time':

http://www.crimetime.co.uk/mag/index.php/showarticle/4746

Or you can get a taste of the book by trying the first chapter here:

http://www.stephen-booth.com/alreadydeadchapter.htm

You can order a copy of ALREADY DEAD from your favourite online bookseller:

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Already-Dead-Cooper-Stephen-Booth/dp/0751551724

Waterstones:
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/stephen+booth/already+dead/9863707/

WH Smith:
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/products/already-dead-cooper-and-fry-13/product/9780751551723

The Hive:
http://www.hive.co.uk/book/already-dead/18374846/

Or call in at your local bookshop, of course.

The Kindle edition can be ordered here for the UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Already-Dead-Cooper-Fry-ebook/dp/B00A7YZ33S/

ALREADY DEAD in Canada

Heads up for Canadian readers! The latest Cooper & Fry novel ALREADY DEAD will be released in Canada next week (September 10th). You can read the first chapter here:
http://www.stephen-booth.com/alreadydeadchapter.htm

ALREADY DEAD will be available from all the usual Canadian booksellers:

Amazon Canada:
http://www.amazon.ca/Already-Dead-Stephen-Booth/dp/0751551708/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1378213030&sr=8-1

Chapters Indigo:
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/already-dead/9780751551709-item.html?ikwid=Stephen+Booth&ikwsec=Books&gcs_requestid=0CLjs--vXsrkCFUkC5wodBhkAAA

McNally Robinson:
http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/9780751551716/stephen-booth/already-dead?blnBKM=1#.UiesvNuF9Xo

Or call in at your local independent bookshop, of course.

Note: this book is published by Little, Brown and not by Virago, as Amazon claim. I'm the wrong gender for them anyway! :)

Crime Writing Month - Week 6

And finally we've reached Week 6 of National Crime Writing Month!

I'll be starting this week with a reader event at Leeds Central Library in West Yorkshire on Monday 8th July (6.30pm start). This is a FREE event, but you can book a place by phoning 0113 247 6016. 

The following day, Tuesday 9th July, Mansfield Library in Nottinghanshire will be the venue for another free event starting at 2pm. For more details, phone 01623 651337 or email: mansfield.library@nottscc.gov.uk

Later in the week, I'll be talking to readers at Tickhill Library in South Yorkshire on Thursday 11th July at 2pm (sorry, this event is fully booked!). 

Finally, I'll be taking part in the Gedling Book Festival on Sunday 14th July in Arnold, Nottingham (2.30pm), when I'll talk about locations in the Cooper & Fry series. There's free admission for this festival too:http://www.newwritersuk.co.uk/gedling.html

But even when Crime Writing Month is over, there'll be plenty more events to come! 

For a start, I'll be performing the official re-opening of the library cafe at Doncaster Central Library at 10am on Monday 15th July, and I'll be available to answer readers' questions and sign books afterwards. 

On Saturday 20th July I'll be signing the new Cooper & Fry novel ALREADY DEAD at Reading Matters bookshop in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire (10.30am - 12.30pm). 

And you can enjoy 'An Evening with Stephen Booth' at the Spring Bank Arts Centre in New Mills, Derbyshire, on Thursday 25th July. Details of this event are here:http://www.springbankarts.org.uk/events/an-evening-with-stephen-booth/

To see if I'll be in your area during the next few months, check out the details on the Events Page:

http://www.stephen-booth.com/events.htm

Coventry event for National Crime Writing Month

An event at Coventry Central Library on Tuesday 2nd July (5.30pm start) will be my first event for Week 5 of National Crime Writing month. This is a FREE event for readers in Coventry. To book a place, phone 02476 832314 or email: central.library@coventry.gov.uk. 

On Wednesday 3rd July (7pm), I'll be at Tadcaster Library in North Yorkshire. Tickets are £2, phone the library on 0845 034 9542 or email: tadcaster.library@northyorks.gov.uk. 

Then on Thursday 4th July (7pm), it will be Congleton Library in Cheshire. Tickets are £3.50. To book a place, phone 01260 375550 or email: congleton.library@cheshireeast.gov.uk

The weekend of Week 5 is also busy, with a signing for the new Cooper & Fry novel ALREADY DEAD at Waterstones Doncaster on Saturday 6th July (11.30am - 1.30pm), and an appearance in the Friends of the Peak District story-telling tent at the Cliffhanger Outdoor Festival in Graves Park, Sheffield, at 5pm on Sunday 7th July.

Hope to see plenty of readers at these events! 

And more dates are still to come:
http://www.stephen-booth.com/events.htm

LINCOLNSHIRE CRIME WRITING MONTH EVENTS

I've added a couple more events this week for National Crime Writing Month. This brings my total of libraries visited up to 20 (plus the castle, the story-telling tent and several bookshops).

I'll be in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, on Wednesday 19th June for a full day of events. I don't get to do much in Lincolnshire, so don't miss it!

10am - North Lincolnshire Central Library, Carlton Street, Scunthorpe DN15 6TX - I'll be presenting certificates to participants in North Lincolnshire's Six Book Challenge.

11am - North Lincolnshire Central Library - 'drop in' for a chat and a cup of tea with the author!

2pm - Ashby Library, Ashby High Street, Scunthorpe DN16 2RY - talk to readers, with Q&A and book signing. FREE event, no tickets required. Phone 01724 296832 or email: library.enquiries@northlincs.gov.uk

NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK - DEAD AND BURIED

The latest Cooper & Fry novel DEAD & BURIED is published in paperback this week. It's available from all good bookshops (and some you might not approve of very much!).

DEAD AND BURIED has a bit of a Dante's 'Inferno' theme going on, particularly highlighted in the opening scene on Oxlow Moor. So I'm very glad that we managed to get DEAD AND BURIED out in paperback a full month ahead of a book called 'Inferno', which is written by a certain Dan Brown. Now people can assume that he copied my idea, rather than the other way round!

I continue to see and hear a lot of comments about the ending of DEAD AND BURIED - such as the reviewer who said the book has "an unexpected and genuinely shocking climax", or the readers on Goodreads who've written: "another brilliant read, with a seat of your pants ending to this one" and "the powerful finale means this is a definite 5 stars". 

Of course, the ending was largely what propelled me into the story for the next book in the series, which is published in June. If you've already read DEAD AND BURIED, I'm sure you'll want to know what happens next - just as I did!

Well, the next book ALREADY DEAD (number 13 in the Cooper & Fry series) is all done and dusted now - editing finished, proofs read, cover finalised (see below), and it's ready to go into production. In fact, June 20th isn't really all that long to wait now, is it? Just nine weeks, according to my calendar. A teenager in Pennsylvania once slept for longer than that in a single session, so I'm sure it'll pass in a jiffy.

Meanwhile, I'll be getting on with writing Book 14. Of course, I never imagined when I started writing the first Cooper & Fry novel, BLACK DOG, that the series would reach this stage. The fact that there are now thirteen books about these two young Derbyshire police detectives is entirely due to my interest in the characters, which fortunately many readers seem to share. 

If you'd like to know a bit more about where Ben Cooper and Diane Fry originally came from, you can read a piece I wrote called 'How I Met My Detectives', which is currently featured on the Crime Vault website:

http://www.thecrimevault.com/exclusives/stephen-booth-how-i-met-my-detectives/

You can buy a copy of the DEAD AND BURIED paperback online here:

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-And-Buried-Cooper-Fry/dp/0751545694/stephenbootho-21

Waterstones:http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/stephen+booth/dead+and+buried/9025989/

WH Smith:http://www.whsmith.co.uk/Products/Dead-and-Buried-v-2-Cooper-and-Fry-2+Paperback+9780751545692

The Hive: http://www.hive.co.uk/book/dead-and-buried/16928563/

Or visit your local bookshop, of course!